Man charged in connection with inmate's death

Inmate suffered head injuries in attack at state prison

A former state prison inmate is facing a reckless second-degree murder charge for the death of another inmate in 2011.

In July 2010, state police told News 9 that 42-year-old state prison inmate Anthony Renzzulla was found bruised, bloody and unresponsive -- the victim of a severe beating.

Renzzulla never regained consciousness and died in Nov. 2011.

Investigators have finally arrested a man who was in prison with Renzzulla at the time of the assault. Thomas Milton, 30, was taken into custody Wednesday in Florida.

"Mr. Milton has been charged with reckless second-degree murder for causing Mr. Renzzulla's death during the course of an attack," said New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley.

The AGs office said part of the delay in making the arrest was that Renzzulla had been heavily medicated during his time in the hospital and extensive tests were needed to officially rule out other possible causes of death.

After the attack, Milton was charged with assault, but after it became clear that Renzzulla wasn't going to get better, prosecutors decided to wait.

"We decided at the time to recommend to the County Attorney that they dismiss their assault charges while we continued the investigation, and that's what the investigators did here, they actively pursued the case and that's what led to the arrest and the charges against Mr. Milton," said Hinckley.

At the time of the attack, Renzzulla was serving sentences for forgery and drug possession. Milton had been convicted of a 2006 arson at the elementary school in Gorham.

"Thomas Milton was serving a 2 1/2 to 5 year sentence for arson. He had served some time in prison, had been previously paroled, and then he returned to prison in early 2010," said Jeff Lyons with the N.H. Department of Corrections.

Milton maxed out his sentence in May 2011 and was released on probation.

Prison officials said he moved to Florida two months ago.

News 9 spoke with Renzzulla's mother. She said it's been a long wait but she is eager to see justice served.

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